Lark's Adventure
by PariahDark
Summary: Sequel to Aerrow's Adventure. A new threat has risen in Cyclonia threatening to bring a end to the happiness Cyclonis has had with the storm hawks. Will she fight to save her home or will she be forced to watch in burn in the fires of madness. Warning this story may get intense in some chapters.
1. Chapter 1

A cyclonian general walked down the dark and foreboding halls of the dungeon followed closely by the small group of nobles, talons and other important figures of Cyclonia.

"Are you sure that this is a good idea? I mean he was imprisoned down here for good reason." One noblemen says as they turn into a hidden section of a wall leading down a flight of stairs.

"What choice do we have? Cyclonis has been missing for six months, the dark ace is dead and all we have left of the leaders are Ravess and Snipe. We don't even have night crawlers anymore! Those damn creatures only follow Cyclonis and without her they just disappeared into the night."

The small group comes to a complete stop in front of a solid metal door surrounded by locks and chains.

"But are we really so desperate that we would bring this prisoner back into the world?"

"Ah general I know I'm just a talon, but what exactly did this guy do to get himself locked down here?" The entire group turns to the young talon in back before the two oldest members let out a sigh.

"This prisoner was once the greatest second in command to the previous master Cyclonis. No other could match his speed, strength or his ferocity in battle, but when the previous master brought in the night crawlers he felt betrayed so one night he ambushed one of them and killed it but that's not the worst part."

"He killed a night crawler? What could be worse than that?"

"He wanted to obtain complete control of the terra so he drank its blood to get its powers and gathered up a bunch of soldiers loyal only to him and attempted a coup.

All the color drained from the younger members face while other members did their best not to vomit at this.

"It must have been ten years ago when he struck, his men were untrained but had numbers on their side. I still remember that battle he stood against the master her night crawlers and her best generals myself included. The entire terra shook with the amount of power being released and after two hours of fighting and nearly half of our ranks vanquished we were victories. The master used all of her crystal magic to seal his power away before locking him down here to rot."

"And you're going to let him out! I mean were desperate but this sounds like pure madness."

At this the older general smiles before walking over to the young talon.

"I'm glad you think so"

"Really?"

"Yes for you see I was worried about who I would have to choose."

He led the young talon over to the door before slipping in the key and watching the old locks slid off and the door opening with a rusty hiss. The cell was bare except for a lone figure with black and graying hair shackled to the far wall wearing a crystal chest piece.

"Do you know why he was locked down here instead of being executed?"

The young man shakes his head

"Simple with all that power coursing inside him he couldn't be killed so the master placed that chest piece that traps his powers and only one thing can open it and get him up and moving again."

"What's that?" the sound of a weapon igniting filled the small room as the young man look down to see a dagger sticking out of his chest.

"Blood from a fresh sacrifice."

The general throws the talon into the room feet from the body and watches as the blood flows from the wound and into the chest piece which after a moment of absorbing the victims blood it snapped in half and fell to the ground.

"General Striker can you hear me?"

At first they get no response or even a indication he was alive but as they start to move the faint sounds of chains gets their attention. When they turn back around they come face to face with the general inches from them.

"It's been a long time since I've had a visitor."

With ease he rips the chains from the wall before ripping them off his wrists.

"Cyclonia must me desperate if you come all the way down here just to release me from my sentence."

He proceeds to dust off his clothes which were nothing more than rags as he stretches his arms and legs.

"Cyclonia is on the brink of losing the war and the master has vanished. We need a leader and you were the greatest second in command this terra has ever had."

the general takes a moment to take in a deep breath and crack his knuckles

"Well now that I'm back Atmos will know the true might of the Cyclonian war machine."

"Yes General Striker"

With one swing of his hand the man who said that was sent into the wall.

"You will address me as Master Striker."

The rest of them bow as they follow their new leader to the surface.

**Two months later aboard the Condor.**

"Aerrow we need to stop by the wayside and pick up some new supplies." Stork says from the helm of the ship.

"Alright go ahead and take us there we completed our mission here."

As he says this Lark and Piper come around the corner talking about new crystal ideas and how to have better control over them. Since joining the storm hawks and becoming the official scout she and Lark have become great friends over their love of crystals. Since admitting their relationship Lark and Aerrow have grown closer and occasionally went on dates thought Atmos. Aerrow couldn't help but walk over and give her a small kiss before handing the latest newspaper and waiting as her eyes read the headline.

"New life to the Cyclonian war machine? What's with this? Cyclonia should be nearly defeated by now."

"It seems someone new is leading them he's calling himself Master Striker and as of a month ago has started to turn the tide of the war with his brutal tactics."

Aerrow knew that Lark still had some feelings for the terra she had ruled so he knew how hard this was for her.

"As if master cyclonis wasn't bad enough to deal with. Now we have someone even crazier running that insane terra." Finn says cleaning his crossbow.

"I'll be in my room if you need me" Lark says the hurt showing in her voice before she runs out of the room tears running down her face.

"Nice going Finn." Piper says glaring at him before going to check on Lark.

"What did I say?" Finn says looking to everyone in the room

"Did you forget that Lark was a cyclonian until two months ago? You basically just called her and everyone she knew insane."

Realization hits him like a wallop.

"Oh man I'm sorry, I didn't think about what I was saying."

"It's not me you have to apologize to Finn, when Piper can calm her down apologize to her until then we head to the wayside to resupply then the council wants us to report to them for a mission briefing."

**Review and tell me what you think of the start of the sequel.**


	2. New Problems

**Lark**

"Lark come on please open the door so that we can talk."

So far Piper had been standing outside my locked door trying in vain to get in but I wasn't in the mood."

"Go away Piper I don't want to talk right know."

_I really shouldn't push people away anymore, but right now I just need to be alone so I can think about what I saw in the paper._

The paper in question had been sitting beside me since I ran in her and so far had only been a constant reminder of disappointment. I had thought that with me not ruling Cyclonia it would cease its war campaign and become less hated.

"I guess it will always be a symbol of hatred to the world."

"You can't think that Lark." I turn around and see Piper standing there a slight smile on her face.

"How did you get in here?"

She extend her hand and shows me one of the crystals we had made together. Nothing special just a short distance teleportation crystal. When I turn back around prepared to ignore her she comes up and gives me a warm hug before sitting in front of me.

"Lark you're my friend so I'm not leaving this room until I know you're better."

"I… I just want everybody to stop hating and despising anything Cycloanian. Not everyone or everything that comes from there is about war"

"I know that Lark and I'm sure that everyone will see that eventually." She says while dragging me up and out of the bed.

Before I unlock the door and giver a quick hug.

"Thanks for being my friend Piper"

"Don't mention it Lark, now let's go see Finn grovel as he tries to apologize for upsetting you."

True to her world not thirty seconds after I open my door and start down the hall Finn comes sprinting down the hall before all but ramming into us.

"Lark please forgive me for anything I said."

"I don't know Finn you did insult everyone I've ever met."

Panic shows in his eyes as he gets down on his knees.

"Come on Lark, I'll do anything just please forgive me."

Piper who had been watching all this whispers something so devious I'm surprised I didn't think of it before.

"All right Finn if you take care of all of mine and Pipers chores for the rest of the week I'll forgive you."

"Thank you! Aerrow would kill me if I didn't get your forgiveness."

"Here's our chores for the week, good luck Finn and let this teach you to think before you speak." Piper says throwing him a list before we make our way to the bridge.

When I see Aerrow he looks at me with a questioning look before I nod and he smiles.

"Stork how close are we to the wayside?"

"Not far but we're getting an s.o.s and it's not far from here should I change course?" Stork says turning to face Aerrow.

"It's our job to help those in danger Stork so of course change course."

Piper goes to plot something on her charts while I go and have a chat with Aerrow just outside on the railing where nobody would be able to hear. As soon as I was out Aerrow wrapped his arms around me pulling me close.

"You okay?"

"Yeah but I could be better."

His response to this was to turn me around before giving me a quick kiss.

"How about now?" I just smile before pushing back and staring at the sky and letting the quiet hum of the engines drown out all noise. That lasted about twelve seconds before Junko opened the door.

"Guys you should see this it's pure chaos."

At this we run to the bridge and grab hold of the periscopes to get a better view. A few miles away a transport ship looked to be on the losing end of a cyclonian attack.

"Everyone to the cargo hold we have to help them." Aerrow says closing the scope and starting down the hall.

We make it to the hall passing Finn who was literally grabbed by Junko and thrown into his skimmer while the rest of us start our up and ride into the sky.

The transport was bursting into flames but the cyclonians were still opening fire even as the people abandoned ship.

My hands tightened around my double crystal staff as I sent a wave of energy into the nearest enemy getting his attention. When they flew closer I saw that their uniforms had changed from red and gray to a now completely black with a white bone like mask with a glowing collar around their necks.

While Aerrow and Finn worked to death with the cyclonians the rest of us were in charge of rescuing the civilians and dropping them off on the condor.

"Thanks for saving me… look out!" the man I had just grabbed screamed before a red blast of energy hits my skimmer sending pain though my body. After a moment of checking my body I take aim at his skimmer before standing up and throwing my staff like a spear straight into his ship before using my powers to pull it back to me.

I watched his skimmer smoke up before falling to pieces as the pilot fell but something strange happened. Instead of a chute opening it looked like he was simply falling and when I looked closer I couldn't see a chute in fact none of the cyclonians were flying with a chute.

I try to alert them on the radio only to find it had been fried from the blast.

"Hey do you know how fly?"

"Yeah why" I slide on to the wing before taking out the teleportation crystal I had taken from Piper before looking to him

"Because I have to warn them about the cyclonians, just worry about getting my skimmer to the condor."

With and nod from the man I jump from the skimmer activating the crystal and reappearing behind Aerrow nearly causing him to lose control.

"Lark!? What are you doing?"

"Aerrow these men are flying without chutes!"

"What!? That means… everyone stop shooting!" he screams into his radio before looking at the men he had thought were safely falling.

"Aerrow you try to save them I'll go and get some answers"

I jump again this time reappearing behind one of the talons. I waste no time and wrap my legs around his waist and pull his arms back making sure he can move.

"Now tell me why you're flying without a chute."

He struggles knocking his helmet off in the process before looking to me.

"You'll get no answers from me Storm Hawk." He says before biting down on something it takes me a moment to know what it is. I try to get him to spit it out but it was too late his eyes dulled and foam came out off his mouth so I let the man fall limp and fall off before taking the controls and joining the others as we fly into the cargo bay.

When I pull in Junko was tying one of the talons to a chair while Stork was examining him as best he could.

"Hey Lark what did you find out?" I hear Aerrow ask

I was about to answer when I see the prisoner open his jaw.

"Stop him! He has poison in his mouth"

Junk immediately pries the man's mouth open while Stork reaches in and yanks it out before sighing.

"Yeah it's poison all right. Crystal shards by the look of it poor fool would be dead in seconds. Personally I prefer animal based toxins kills you faster."

Aerrow steps in front of the man.

"Now tell us what we want to know."

"Please if you have any mercy you'll throw me overboard! The new master doesn't accept failure it's why we fly without chutes. That way if we fail we die quicker and a lot less painful then if we return home."

My heat nearly breaks when I hear this. I couldn't believe that these men would choose to terminate themselves rather than return home. I take Aerrows hand seeking some form of comfort as the talon goes on.

"Ever since Master Striker took over things have gone from bad to worse. Martial law had taken place everyone is required to register and wear these collars and obey all his new laws or face execution by his hand."

Anger fills my veins as I hear this, nobody no matter how bad deserves to be treated like this and when I find the man responsible I was going to kill him.


	3. Things getting worse

**Master Striker**

The halls of Cyclonia rang out with the screams coming from the dungeon were the new master was busy extracting information from a captured sky knight.

"Now I'll only ask you once Harrier, where can I find the storm hawks." He asks picking Harrier up by the neck before throwing him into the wall.

Harrier although beaten and bloody still manages to give a small smile of defiance.

"Do what you want with me villain, but I will never tell you anything."

"I admire your spirit however I don't see a point in keeping you alive if you have nothing to offer me. Bring him to the surface where I can dispose of him where the world can see."

Leaving his men to carry out his orders he returns to the throne room where Ravess and Snipe were waiting each one bowing as he enters and takes his place on his throne.

"Speak and make it quick."

"Master we've received news that our raiding party hasn't reported in." Ravess says

"Then for their sakes lets pray they fell to a superior enemy, you know how I deal with failures"

"Yes master Striker."

"If what you say is true then I will have to build a better squad of raiders. Someone truly fearsome… And I know just the group of people for the job. Snipe summon the raptors and tell them I have a mission for them, as for you Ravess come with me."

They both rise from the floor and quickly respond to their orders. Ravess follows her new master to one of the crystal storage rooms where he grabs a fire bolt crystal and a smoker before heading to the shuttle bay where he boards his skimmer and rides off into the sky Ravess right beside him.

After nearly an hour of riding Ravess decided to ask her master a question she had been wondering about.

"Master if I may ask where exactly are we going?"

"I am going to recruit an old friend while you are to be quiet and follow me without question."

"Of course master forgive me."

Striker soon dives into a cloud bank and coming to a stop on a small patch of land with a withered black tree near the wrecking of an ancient looking ship.

"Master this place is…"  
"Silence!"

He takes out both of the crystal before digging out a small hole in the ground before setting them both inside. Then he goes over to the tree and after a moment of searching around it comes back with a small pouch containing black dust which he pours onto the crystals causing them to glow before sending up shot after shot of red flares that ignite the clouds.

"Most of Cyclonia has forgotten me but those that remember me know that before I became a champion of Cyclonia I was a proud captain of a certain group and when I left I gave it over to my greatest friend. Even after I left I would send work his way or just sneak away to have a drink with an old friend."

It takes a moment of thinking for Ravess to connect the pieces of what he was talking about.

"You mean you were a murk raider?"

"One of their greatest captains."

The air begins to echo as a colossal ship ascends from the clouds lights baring down on the two as a lone figure jumps from the monstrous mouth landing just in front of Striker.

"Well I'll be, when I saw our old signal I thought some fool was here trying to give me a final message from you." The scared captain of the murk raiders says lowering his ignited sword

"Not quite old friend but I do have a favor to ask."

"Just like old times, very well as long as it pays."

"The job is simple I recently lost some weak and pointless men and so now I'm looking for a new group of raiders to unleash on the bloated ships infesting the skies of Atmos."

"Tempting but what about their crew and their cargo?"

"Yours to do with as you see fit so long as you deal with the ships I see no reason to deny you your fun."

With a wicked smile the captain extends his metal clawed hand.

"Then we have a deal"

Striker smiles as he shakes his hand.

"Oh and while you're out having your fun keep an eye out for the storm hawks, I wish to meet the sky knights that have been a thorn in Cyclonias side for so long.

**Terra Atmosia Council Chambers**

All around the room sat the sky knights of Atmos and their squadrons as they listened to the council talk about the recent attacks.

"Everyone please settle down we have something to discus. We have just learned that Harrier and his squad was ambushed and captured as they were returning home."

This brought on a new wave of questions and murmurs as the information made its way around the room.

"Are they asking for a ransom?" asked Starling getting everyone's attention.

"I'm afraid not, it seems as though we should expect the worse from what the storm hawks have told us."

As everyone processed this information a messenger hawk flew into the room before dropping a scroll onto the table before flying back out the window. Starling being the closest opened the scroll before reading it aloud.

"Attention Sky knights of Atmosia, your days of interfering with Cyclonia are over. I Master Striker personally offer you one chance to bow to Cyclonia or you will suffer the same fate as the leader of the Rex Guardians, public execution and destruction of your terras."

The entire room immediately erupted into chaos as multiple sky knights shouted in ager at the thought of bowing to Cyclonia. While others asked if they would really destroy their terras if they didn't.

The oldest council member rose from his chair and with a single raised hand silenced the crowd and restored order before he spoke.

"It has been some time since I heard the name Striker. Know this sky knights of Atmos this man is a monster that will tear apart anything in his way. We must not cower or charge head first into danger, no we must unite and band together for if Striker now leads Cyclonia then all we can do is prepare for the upcoming darkness as best we can. Now all of you go and return to your terras and defend them until we can decide on what to do."

As the sky knights got up to lead it was Aerrow who decided to ask the question everybody was too afraid to ask.

"And what of Harrier? Are we just going to leave him to his fate?"

"He knew the risks as all sky knights do when they take mantle of knight."

Aerrow walks away from the council without saying another word but the whiteness of his knuckles showed what he was truly feeling. His team followed him without saying a word until they arrived on the condor where Starling was standing near the helm holding the key to the ship.

"I know what you're thinking and I can't allow you to do it."

"I can't just do nothing while a sky knight gets executed! I don't care what the council ordered I'm going to rescue him and you can't stop us from going."

Starling only smirks as she throws Stork the keys before taking a seat.

"Of course I can't stop you so I'll just have to go with you to make sure you succeed."

"Are you sure? What about the council orders?"

"Our orders were to guard our terras and like you I don't have a terra to guard."

The only sounds after that were the sounds of the engine coming to life before flying full speed into the sky toward their goal.


	4. The rescue

**Cyclonis**

As soon as the red clouds of my home came into view I volunteered to scout ahead to see if there was anything to worry about.

"Lark anything in our way?" came Aerrow over the radio

"Well let's see, there's about three murk raider ships flying Cyclonian colors docked at the hangers along with hundreds of talons flying in formations all across the sky. So yeah I'd say there's a whole lot of something in our way."

"Right then plan B it is then, return to the ship as fast as you can."

Not wanting to be seen as I go I activate a cloaking crystal before diving beneath the clouds stealthy making my way back to the condor and joining the rest of the team on the bridge.

"Alright everyone the front door is out so we'll just have to go in the other way."

"Ah Aerrow if I may point something out."

"Go ahead Stork"

"The last time we went in another way we wound up getting stuck before being blasted at by the raptors."

Aerrow just smiles before patting him on the back

"Yeah but this time we have an expert on Cyclonia with us to make sure that doesn't happen right Lark?"

All eyes shift to me especially Starling who raises an eyebrow before narrowing her eyes at me.

"What do you mean expert on Cyclonia Aerrow?" She asks

"Well Starling until a few months ago I was the personal maid/ best friend to Cyclonis. I was basically the only person she cared about so in order to make sure I would be safe she maid me memorize all the underground tunnels and escape routs Cyclonia had in case I ever had to escape to safety."

_Not a total lie but it's better than saying I memorized the tunnels so I could leave my terra and have fun without being noticed._

Starling takes a long time to answer all the while focusing her eyes on me before laying out a hand drawn map of Cyclonia.

"Then what route should we take miss best friend to Cyclonis"

I look over the map taking in the detail that she had gone through to include every opening and tunnel that should have been hidden. After a minute of scanning I spot the one route that nobody would suspect us of using.

"We'll take this route, we'll have to go down into the wastelands and use our skimmers to find the opening but this particular tunnel leads all the way up to a little secret garden in the middle of Cyclonia. From there it's just a short walk to the dungeon, if nothing goes wrong we can just grab Harrier and escape back the way we came."

I expected Starling to say something snippy about this plan but instead she just turns to Aerrow and says something I never expected her to say.

"I like this one Aerrow, she came up with a plan with a low percentage of failure in less than a minute."

"One of the many reasons why I asked her to join." He tells Starling before sending me a wink causing my cheeks to burn with embarrassment.

Stork mutters something about our imminent demise as he takes the condor down into the wastelands until I point out a small stream flowing out of the terra. We mount up and speed into the tiny crevice in single file with Junko flying at the lead using his knuckle busters to carve out a bigger passage as we went. Soon enough we came to a massive wall where the water was flowing under the rock and with a single massive punch Junko destroyed the rock opening us into the secret garden I had once shown Aerrow.

Once we park our skimmers Starling takes out the map before assigning our tasks.

"Aerrow you Lark and I will head to the dungeon to rescue Harrier, Piper see if you can cause some kind of distraction with Junko and the crystals lying around here so we can break in unnoticed. Finn I need you to stay here and guard our skimmers in case something goes wrong and we have to make a quick get away."

We all exchange a quick nod before heading off toward our goals.

**Piper**

With all the crystal lying around it was pretty simple to mix up a quick eruption crystal. I had used one of Lark's cloaking crystals so that Junko and I could sneak our way into the base and find just the right position that would cause the maximum damage. Or that's what we would be doing if Junko didn't keep forgetting what we were up to

"Ah Piper what are we looking for again?"

"Junko I told you we need to find someplace to set this off so that they can break into the dungeon."

"Oh right, we don't we just put it in here." I follow his thumb and nearly face palm when I realize that we were right outside the armory.

"Junko why didn't you mention this sooner?"

"I forget."

"Just wait here while I plant our little distraction."

When inside it take notice of all the weapons and crystals lying about in piles in the room.

"I really hat to do this to crystals but on the other hand I do love to stick it to Cyclonia." I take out our crystal and throw it near a pile of fire bolt crystals watching as it starts to glow. Knowing what would happen next I bolt from the room grapping Junko and running around the corner and smack into Snipe. Which had the unlucky effect of knocking my cloaking crystal out of my hand revealing us.

"Huh? What the heck are you two doing here!?"

As Junko ignites his weapons and prepares to fight I remember why we were running, and the fact that we had not gotten far enough to avoid the blast. All three of us heard the low rumbling but unfortunate stood by as the door to the armory blew off its hinges unleashing a violent and fiery explosion into the hall. Snipe got struck by the door launching him into Junko pancaking them both into the wall shielding them from the explosion, but I was to slow in rolling out of the way and my arms got caught in the heat of the flames.

**Aerrow**

When the explosion shook the terra we knew our plan was working. Two guards immediately ran out to investigate and we took our chance and rushed in looking from cell to cell until we saw a badly damaged blonde figure huddled in the farthest cell. It one took on swing of my blades to open it and fro Starling to check his wounds.

"He has a few broken ribs and his legs are fractured in three places but he'll live to fight another day."

I let out a sigh of relief as I grab him by the arm and help him to his feet as Lark does the same on his other side. A few nasty words escape his mouth as he's dragged to his feet but bit by bit we start to walk him out as Starling takes the lead making sure no guards were near.

"I thank you for saving me but these wounds are nothing compared to my damaged pride."

"Does he always talk like this?" Lark says as we struggle on the stairs

"No usually he's usually more pompous and arrogant."

As we turn the corner we see a small group of talons huddled around something. They notices us and drop what they were holding which was a very wounded Snipe and rush to attack only to be defeated in seconds by Starling. A three fingered hand gets my attention.

"Junko?!"

Starling rushes in to check but smiles as the wallop sits up and spits out a couple of teeth before dusting himself up.

"If I wasn't a wallop that really would have hurt. Where's Piper?"

Lark lets out a horrible scream as she looks about and finds a figure surrounded by rubble with pretty badly damaged hands.

"Junko grab Piper! We're out of here!"

Forgoing sneaking around we rush toward the secret passage defeating any guard that crosses our path until our skimmers come into view.

"Finn we're leaving!"

He only has to take one look at our injured to understand. Junko takes Harrier on his Skimmer while Starling puts Piper behind her as we take off.

When both Piper and Harrier we under Storks and Starlings care in the condor I would later be told that my hands were dripping blood at how tight I was gripping them.


	5. The lengths people go through

**Lark**

As soon as Stork had said Pipers hands had been injured I had rushed in to see if I could use a crystal to help, but I wasn't prepared to see just how bad it was. Both of her arms were covered in bandages all the way up to her shoulders and the smell of burnet flesh was nearly overpowering but even with all that Piper still managed to smile when I walked in.

"Hey Lark don't worry it's not as bad as it looks."

"Piper your arms are covered in second and third degree burns. Stork says you'll be lucky if you can move them again."

"Lark we both know that there's a crystal that can heal any wound."

"… Yeah and it's owned by an angry giant with a giant crystal mace. Piper you're my best friend so I would risk anything if I could help you."

I put some minor frost crystals near the most severe wounds along with helping her with the medicine Stork had given her before I leave her to plan my little raid on Gunstaffs crystal collection. Stork was talking to Aerrow outside and from the way Aerrow was sighing and gripping his fists I could tell that it was pretty bad.

Not wanting to add any more bad news I snuck down to the hanger and to my skimmer wanting to leave to get the crystal as soon as possible. I was not prepared for a surprise ambush from Radar popping out from the engine holding some important wires.

"Radar put those back I have someplace I have go."

He just shakes his head while holding the wires behind his back.

"Come on Radar I have to get a crystal to help with Pipers injuries and I can't go if those wires aren't connected."

When I mention Pipers injuries he seems to understand me and after a moment reconnects the wires before climbing in and taking a seat beside me.

"Oh I see you want to help me get the crystal. All right but just so you know this might get dangerous." I was actually surprised and relived when he gave me a thumbs up.

Without giving it a second thought I rode a full speed into the sky heading straight for one of the most dangerous places in atmos in search of one of the rarest crystals without a plan but with a handy sidekick beside me. As we got closer to gunstaffs house Radar as if spooked by something grabbed the handles and sent us into a cloud bank.

"Radar what the heck! We're nearly there."

He clamps his fury hand over my mouth before he points one hand as four skimmers carrying Repton and his gang zoom past us before landing at the base of gunstaffs house and crawling up the side of his giant stone house.

"Why would Repton be here? Unless… he's after the same crystal we are!"

Radar clearly not understanding what I had said looks at me strangely.

"Radar, gunstaff has the greatest collection of crystals in atmos, but the rarest one is the healing crystal we came to get with it we could treat any injury the sky knights could get so the raptors were sent to steal it for Cyclonia understand?

He gives me a quick nod before reaching down into one of my bags and pulls out velocity crystal before jamming it into the compartment and blasting us off at full speed while I scream my head off.

Now when I say screaming my head off I mean utterly destroying them as my skimmer completely zooms past a bunch of stunned raptros and right into a window and into the forehead of a now unconscious gunstaff. They say during an accident everything slows down, well they were right seeing as the moment we rammed into him we were sent flying in slow motion and as I hurdled upside down with a sky monkey screaming while clinging to my leg I saw the raptors staring with their mouths open as the giant fell atop of them.

We were lucky enough to land in a giant mug which broke our fall. When we finally swam to the surface I looked over at the fallen giant.

"Please don't be dead" I said as we climbed out.

After a moment of silence we heard a loud groaning followed by four muffled screams as four pairs of scaly hands crawled out from his side.

"Good news we didn't accidently kill five people, bad news the raptors will crawl out pretty quickly so we should probably hurry."

With our conscious clear we ran full speed off the table before sliding down the tablecloth and onto the floor. As I stopped to rest for a minute a dagger imbedded itself into the table leg inches from my face when I followed its path I saw an extremely angry Repton reaching for another as his henchmen we nearly free.

"Run!"

Without looking back we ran in straight for the door to the crystal room barely dodging the daggers as they hit the floor all around us. The moment we went under the door and into the crystal vault I grabbed the nearest crystal I could find threw it to Radar.

"I'll need time to find the crystal so do everything you can to slow them down."

"Get the fur ball! I'll get the crystal." We hear as repton and his mean squeeze through the door and start toward us. Radar jumps into action, literally he jumps onto Leugey's face and begins punching him causing him to crash into the other two as I use the surrounding levitate up through the room as I search for the one I had come for.

"When I get hold of you I'll tear you apart!" I hear not far from me as Repton using his anger to motivate him pounces from ledge to ledge which was both impressive and terrifying.

Tapping into a part of myself I haven't used in a while I pull two crystals from across the room and using one to grab him and slam him into the wall before sending him hurdling into the air. While he was airborne I concentrated on the other crystal using all of my power to focus all the energy to a single tiny point before unleashing it at Repton. The minute the blast left my hand it expanded into a massive purple wave sending him into his men and then through the door.

The pain and uneasy feeling of utter darkness that came from using my old powers was entirely worth the numbness I was feeling in my right arm.

"Not doing that again. Now where would he put a valuable crystal?"

The farther up I levitated the fewer crystal there were so I knew I was on the right track. When I finally got to one of the highest shelves I could sense I had found it so with my good hand I snatched it up before flying down to pick Radar up before flying over to one of the raptors bikes and setting Radar down.

"My arms a bit out of commission right now so you'll have to fly us back."

He was about to start it up before he looks over at the other bikes and after giving me the sign to wait a moment pulls out a wrench and takes apart their bikes stranding them here before starting up our ride and taking off out the window we had come through.

As we were flying back I had time to think about what had just happened.

_I can't believe that I tapped into my old powers after all this time. I thought I was done but I guess as long as I don't use them again I should be fine… we except for my arm, I must have gotten soft if one little blast could numb it like this._

I was pulled out of my thoughts by a pair of lights breaking through the clouds.

"Must be the rest of the team come looking for us."

Turns out we weren't that lucky as a shot came from below us knocking out our wings as two more came from our sides capturing us in a net before descending into the clouds where a massive ship was waiting.

We were thrown to a massive man with only one eye who slung us over his shoulder as he carried us through the ship all the while the crew was singing the same song over and over again.

"Deeps, deeps, they'll crush your tiny hulls, deeps, deeps… leave nothing but your skulls."

After a few minutes of listening to this I was tempted to use my good arm to start blasting my way free if for no other reason than to shut them up when we were thrown onto the bridge.

"Captain look what we found just above the clouds."

As he turned all plans of escape instantly became impossible for when you get captured by the murk raiders you either get ransomed back or worse.

"Good work eyeball a storm hawk will earn a hefty reward from Cyclonia. I'll have a word with these two while you go give them a call."

When he leans down to get a better look at us I do something that I learned during my time as a storm hawk and antagonize the enemy by leaning back and slamming my head straight into his nose. He really didn't seem to enjoy that and with his metal hand grabbed me by the collar lifting me up.

"On second thought eyeball you might want to say that the goods got a bit damaged upon retrieval." He raised his other hand and was about to strike when all of a sudden the lights went out and screaming was heard through the ship.

"Eyeball! What's happening on my ship!?"

"Captain everything's down all through the ship!"

As he draws his weapon five glowing eyed figures crash through the window and spring into to action taking out all remaining people onboard even going so far as two throw the captain and his first mate out of the ship before removing the net and kneeling down before me and saying some words I thought I would never hear again.

"At last we have found you, what are your orders Master Cyclonis?"


	6. Wrath of Cyclonia

**Aerrow**

When we had gotten back to the ship I knew we were in trouble. Harrier was badely injured and pipers arms we burned but I had hoped that it just looked worse than it actually was but as Stork later informed me I couldn't be more wrong. As it turned out Piper was suffering from severe burns and without the help of a miracle she probably wouldn't be able to move them again. Harrier was another story when Stork was putting his massive amount of medical knowledge to use he found out that Harrier was suffering from internal and external damadge.

"Aerrow, I may know a thing about medicine from having studied so many types of dieases and illness but from what I can see whatever torment he went through on Cyclonia was made to slow his heart then his blood flow and then finally shut down anything impormant."

"What are you saying Stork?"

"I'd say what you have to for at the rate he's going we'll probably have him alive for two hours... three at the max."

At first I couldn't belive what he was saying and I thought it was just hime being grim again but the expression of seriousness on her face proved me wrong. I moved past Stork and into the room Harrier was in so that I could see for myself how he was doing. On the outside he looked beat up but okay but when I looked down at the chart Stork hat placed there i saw exactly what the damadge was.

"Not the prettist picture is it?"

"Harrier I came to see how you were."

Before he can say something he erupts into a coughing fit inot a tissue before tossing it inot a overflowing wastebasket by his bed. It only took one glance to see that most of them were stained with blood.

"I know I'm not long for this world Aerrow so before I go listen to what I have to say. The new leader of Cyclonia is a monster beyond your wilest nightmares. He captured my entire squad as we were returning home and I was fored to watch as he personally did away with them one by one." The pain and anger in his voice was evidient as he spoke.

"It's not my life I fear for, but the lives of the citizens ot terra Rex for without their sky knight to protoct them they won't surrive what's coming."

"What is comming?"

"When i was still in my cell my tormenter spoke of how he would lead a massive attack against my terra and if they didn't bow to him he would destroy it."

"Harrier don't worry I promise that we'll protoct your terra from Cyclonia. Now you just try to relax for the time being." He gives me a nod before leaning back on his bed and closeing his eyes while I leave the room and head to the bridge to talk with my team.

"Everyone listen up, there's going to be an attact on Terra Rex so Stork get us there as soon as possible."

"On it Aerrow."

"Finn I want you scanning the skies and to aleart us if you see anything."

"Okay."

"Starling seeing as Stork will be busy flying I want you to take care of our patiants."

"I'll do what I can but I don't have much medical expericance."

"And Lark I want you to... where's Lark and for that matter wher's Radar.

As if just noticeing this everyone looks around for the two of them well except Junko who I noticed was trying to be nonchalant.

"Junko is there something you're not telling us?"

"What me!? no of course not I wouldn't no anything about Lark sneaking out with Radar to get some crystal to help Piper."

"Well at least we know where she is, just go and radio her to meet us at Terra Rex when she has the crystal."

With that setteled and everyone off to their jobs it gave me the chance to do the thing I had been putting off since we had rescued Harrier... telling the council what we had done.

With the transceiver in hand I waited for the line to conncect and for them to clear me.

"This is Aerrow of the storm hawks calling to report to the council"

"...This is the Sky knight Council what is the meaning of this interruption?"

"I have to report that the sky knights have rescued Harrier the sole survivor of the rex guardians and to report that an attack on terra Rex is immanent."

"You dare go against orders!... What I mean to say is that we on the council agree that saving a veteran sky knight is a courageous achievement but you were told to return to and protect your terras not rescue one of our own."

"Actually sir seeing as the storm hawks don't have a terra to protect we were completely within our rights to save one of our own but now I'm telling you send reinforcements to protect terra Rex."

The pause that came after that last statement told me that I was not going to like what they were going to tell me next.

"At this time we can not spare the squadrons on the hunch of one man, we are sorry Aerrow but terra Rex will have to face this danger on their own."

With that one statement the call ends and I'm sorry to say that in my rage proceded to fling the radio into the wall shattering it. Once I had calmed down which took a few minutes of holding my breath I returned to the bridge just in time to see the bloated hunk of weapons that was Snipes warship unloading it's guns into the heart of Terra Rex. Which as it turns out was the exact time Harrier had found the strength to leave his bed and check to see if we were there.

"My home" those were the last words he ever spoke to us as a second later his hand went to his heart as he collapsed to his knees as blood poured from his mouth before he fell backwards onto the floor where I stood helpless as second after second passed as the captain of the rex guardians met his end on our floor. When Harrier stopped moving or making sounds Stork bent down to take a pulse but after a few seconds he just looked at us before shaking his head.

"Guys I know what I'm about to say might sound strange but after everything that has happened I say we go and show Snipe just how we get payback. When I looked back at my team I found myself smiling as each and everyone Stork included carrying weapons and smiles on their faces.


	7. Surprise

**Aerrow**

In all the time I had been the leader of the storm hawks I have had many reckless plans that had a very small success rate, but the plan I have now blows them all out of the water.

"Aerrow are you sure this plan of yours will work?"

"Honestly Starling I have no idea if it will work but I know we have to get Snipe's attention and this will deffinatly get it. Finn if you would do the honors."

"With pleasure Aerrow" he says climbing into the seat of one of turrets before using his marksmen skills to unleash a volley of shots at all of Snipes engines causing them to erupt in flames.

"Direct hits on all of his engines he's stopped firing on the terra."

"Alright everyone phase one is over but now things will really get interesting once we enter phase two."

"Uhhh everyone Snipe's ship is turning around." Finn says getting our attention.

"It's okay just because it's turning around doesn't mean it's located us we're to far out of range to be detected."

Seconds later all manner of alarms went off as the controls alerted us that we had been locked on.

"Aerrow it's cannons are locking onto the Condor."

"StorK take evasive action and get us in close!"

The condor shook to live as Stork ignited the engines and added a velocity crystal to help us get a edge against Snipes arsenal of cannons. The minute the crystal hit the engine everyone but Stork who was using his feet to grip to grip the bottom of the wheel was flung back against the wall as we dodged the hundreds of cannon shots being fired at us.

"Junko we need to get to the hanger!"

With his massive wallop strength he pulled himself from the wall while we grabbed and held on as he dragged all of us across the condor as Stork made a series of impressive turns and spins as he avoided the shots and got closer to the ship.

"Aerrow if you guys haven't reached the hanger by now I suggest you hurry because I'm about to pull one heck of a maneuver."

Our situation became more intense after hearing that seeing as our plan depended on us being in the hanger for it to work.

"Junko we need to get to the hanger in the next few seconds."

"Alright everyone hold on tight." We all held on to Junko as he hitched his legs and arms before using them to launch himself like a cannon through the hall and straight through the door of the hanger right as Condor began to climb straight up into the sky. It was a good thing that Finn had been working on our skimmers and had locked them down our they would have been pulled right on top of us.

"Everyone get to your skimmers, when Stork reaches the drop point we'll use the height to our advantage to pick up some speed so we can bombard the hull of the ship and avoid all the cannon fire."

As we were climbing into our skimmers and just about to drop Starling pointed out something I crucial I had nearly forgotten.

"Aerrow you do realize that we're using skimmers against a warship right? I mean that armor is pretty thick I don't think we're going to do much damage."

"Don't worry I planned for this little problem."

The condor comes to a slow stop as it reaches the height of its climb and the doors open in the hanger revealing our target waiting below. The locks disengage and we blast off and let gravity do most of the work as we fire blast after blast with our skimmers each aiming for something crucial as we fall. When the smoke clears however our attacks have done nothing more than scratch the paint and so as we dodge the cannons as we pass the sides of the ship I give the signal and we fly around until we were facing the blind spot behind his ship.

"Finn it's time do what you do best."

He gives a week chuckle before loading something special into his crystal chamber before speeding off toward Snipes engines. Starling however looks to Finn and then back to me eyebrow raised waiting for an explanation

"For some unknown reason Finn always seems to get his skimmer either slashed in half or destroyed nearly every time we ride into battle. So this time we're going to take advantage of that and destroy his engines hopefully creating an opening to get onto the ship."

But like with most of our plans something unexpected happened causing everything I had come with to go down the drains. For as Finn go close to the engines and prepared to jump off a massive ship emerged from the clouds below.

"Finn abort the plan!" I screamed into the radio as the head of the ship breached the clouds.

Finns scream as he flew up and away from the ship was nearly drowned out by the roar of the murk raider ship. And like a sky shark hunting this ship sprang from underneath the clouds opening its mouth and clamping down on both sides of Snipe's ship easily breaking it's armor.

"What's going on guys?" I hear Stork say through the radio.

"Not sure, it looks like the murk raiders are attacking the cyclonians."

"Wait I thought they were working for the cyclonians."

"Well they are pirates who pillage and plunder ships for a living, I guess they just couldn't pass up something so bloated with weapons and resources."

Not wanting to be close to the two ships as they fought it out we retreated to the condor as explosions rocked Snips ship as the murk raider ship fired at point blank into the heart of his ship sending both crew and ship hurling into the wastelands below.

"You know a part of me feels sorry for Snipe seeing as he's at the mercy of the murk raiders as they tear his ship apart."

"Really?" Starling asks not bothering to look away from the carnage.

"Yeah but only a tiny bit." as I say this the shooting seems to slow from both ships before a series of red blasts come from the bridge of Snipe's ship followed by complete silence from both ships. As we wait for the silence to break our radio that Stork had repaired after I hurled it to the ground in anger crackles to life filling the void of silence with static.

"Aerrow we're receiving a message from Snipe's ship."

"What does it say?"

After a moment of fiddling with the volume and adjusting his headphone Stork turns back to us.

"The radio is old and kind of damaged but I can make out the words...Snipe captured...no threat... come aboard... yeah that's all I can make out from this hunk of junk. He brings his point home by slapping the side of the box.

"Alright Stork bring is in but be ready for an attack." Stork nods before flying is over to the ship where Starling, Junko and I enter through an enormous hole caused by the attack and walk through battle-scarred halls were injured Cyclonians were lying unconscious on the ground. When we do finally reach the bridge of the ship we see something we didn't expect to see.

In the middle of the room surrounded by night crawlers was Snipe who's left side of his face was scared probably by our little distraction last time we were on Cyclonia. That however was soon forgotten when I saw Lark standing at the far side of the room.

"Lark! I was worried about you." I say as I cross the room in mere seconds and embrace her with a hug and a kiss.

"I missed you to Aerrow." She says as we detach

A very loud very annoyed cough comes from Starling getting our attention.

"Yes you to were worried about each other that's all well and good but could someone please explain why night crawlers the elite guards of Cyclonis herself are here and nobody besides me is worried?!"

I look to Lark and she looks to me with a look of panic and worry on her face before she looks to Starling.

"This is a conversation we should have on the condor with everyone present." She then points to two of the night crawlers.

"You two take Snip to the brig on the murk raider ship the rest of you follow the condor and await further instructions.

"As you command Master" they say in unison as Lark passes a confused and angry Starling as she makes her way back to the ship.

I could tell the following conversation was going to be very loud and embarrassing for me and Lark


End file.
